{"id":1238,"date":"2016-08-24T13:30:02","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T12:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2016-08-24T13:26:02","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T12:26:02","slug":"tilshead-salisbury-plain-wiltshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=1238","title":{"rendered":"Tilshead &#038; Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk; varwalkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=840,width=1230,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script><br \/>\nFirst published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('Tilshead.gpx');\" rel=\"nozoom\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8037\/28228753290_d1206c948a.jpg\" title='the track through the unspoilt chalk grassland of Salisbury Plain 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8037\/28228753290_d1206c948a_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8006\/28228747140_3d62ccf298.jpg\" title='marbled white butterfly'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8006\/28228747140_3d62ccf298_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8069\/27896477043_08d86543aa.jpg\" title='timeless landscape of unspoiled chalk grassland, Salisbury Plain 8'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8069\/27896477043_08d86543aa_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7546\/28406863522_ba1f0e6a9c.jpg\" title='timeless landscape of unspoiled chalk grassland, Salisbury Plain 7'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7546\/28406863522_ba1f0e6a9c_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8562\/28228741020_5067d0c37f.jpg\" title='timeless landscape of unspoiled chalk grassland, Salisbury Plain 6'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8562\/28228741020_5067d0c37f_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8395\/28480190026_63a86b9ede.jpg\" title='timeless landscape of unspoiled chalk grassland, Salisbury Plain 5'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8395\/28480190026_63a86b9ede_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8702\/28406872932_ec15a6af29.jpg\" title='timeless landscape of unspoiled chalk grassland, Salisbury Plain 1'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8702\/28406872932_ec15a6af29_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7610\/28406877292_63a97031a4.jpg\" title='timeless landscape of unspoiled chalk grassland, Salisbury Plain 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7610\/28406877292_63a97031a4_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8818\/28480203106_de27677b56.jpg\" title='timeless landscape of unspoiled chalk grassland, Salisbury Plain 3'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8818\/28480203106_de27677b56_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8617\/27896466143_31108205e0.jpg\" title='red soldier beetles (how appropriate!) enjoy a snack of wild parsnip on Salisbury Plain'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8617\/27896466143_31108205e0_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7477\/27895616144_c92fca2331.jpg\" title='female small skipper on convolvulus'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7477\/27895616144_c92fca2331_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8598\/28228741290_8c869ded8e.jpg\" title='wonderfully plump and stripy sainfoin'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8598\/28228741290_8c869ded8e_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8598\/28228743760_134b9bb85b.jpg\" title='field scabious'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8598\/28228743760_134b9bb85b_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8807\/27895636884_da0a8da17e.jpg\" title='hmmm ... what&#039;s this?'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8807\/27895636884_da0a8da17e_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8478\/27895617324_f4f10457e7.jpg\" title='meadowsweet budding'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8478\/27895617324_f4f10457e7_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8175\/28406856102_898d3bde2e.jpg\" title='FIBUA (Fighting In Built Up Areas) mock village'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8175\/28406856102_898d3bde2e_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8878\/27895619354_759d477b63.jpg\" title='FIBUA (Fighting In Built Up Areas) mock village - east entrance'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8878\/27895619354_759d477b63_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8653\/28480168906_478f7930e2.jpg\" title='mud queen (be careful when looking for Fairy Shrimps!!)'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8653\/28480168906_478f7930e2_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8592\/27895622364_e10c1cacf6.jpg\" title='sandy track'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8592\/27895622364_e10c1cacf6_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8606\/28434218051_fd6188bc60.jpg\" title='timothy grass'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8606\/28434218051_fd6188bc60_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7639\/28503572536_73389fe6eb.jpg\" title='timeless landscape of unspoiled chalk grassland, Salisbury Plain 4'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7639\/28503572536_73389fe6eb_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nFacebook Link: <script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=1238\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" width=\"200\" colorscheme=\"dark\"><\/fb:like><br \/>\n<a href=\"javascript:pwindow=window.open('\/Walks\/prn.php?f=1238','pwin','height=700,width=1000,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes');\" title=\"Click for printable version\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Walks\/print.gif\" align=\"right\"><\/a><br \/>\nThe Royal Geographical Society has just launched its \u2018Discovering Britain\u2019 project (<a href=\"http:\/\/discoveringbritain.org\">discoveringbritain.org<\/a>), exploring dozens of landscapes through walks great and small. On a gorgeous summer\u2019s afternoon we set out from the Wiltshire village of Tilshead to follow one of the RGS walks through the heart of Salisbury Plain.<\/p>\n<p>Stepping off the road into the vast Ministry of Defence preserve of Salisbury Plain feels like slipping through the screen of time into the pages of a book by Edward Thomas or W.H. Hudson. The past hundred years might never have existed. Here are no motor roads, no housing developments, no industry. These dense, flower-rich, unimproved chalk grasslands, Europe\u2019s most extensive tract, have never known modern ploughing or farm chemicals. They have remained in this pristine, prelapsarian state thanks to the activities of the MoD, which uses the plain for military training to the exclusion of all other activity.<\/p>\n<p>A mile or so down the white-dusted chalk track we passed the enormous Old Ditch long barrow, one of the longest in UK, over 400ft from end to end. These ancient monuments, too, have escaped the plough and the developer\u2019s JCB &#8211; though one or two have occasionally collided with a tank. <\/p>\n<p>The richness of the chalk grassland flora had us exclaiming out loud \u2013 a palette of colour and variety really astonishing to walkers accustomed to the thin pickings of England\u2019s 21st century landscapes. Vivid royal blue of viper\u2019s bugloss, round lacy powder-puffs of field scabious, buttery sprigs of yellow rattle, sanfoin\u2019s convex pink petals like stripy Shakespearean breeches. Butterflies kettered and zigzagged over the grasses \u2013 clouded yellows, small skippers, marbled whites, chalkhill blues. Over all lay the soporific hum of bees and hoverflies busy among the flowers.<\/p>\n<p>There were one or two soldiers, of course \u2013 cheerful, courteous men who stopped their bouncing carriers to enquire whether we were having a nice day before roaring off into the \u2018German village\u2019. This mock-up of a Bavarian township was built for Cold War practice against imaginary Russian invaders on the plains of Germany, and is still in use for training soldiers in fighting techniques in built-up areas.<\/p>\n<p>We left the eerie, hollow-eyed dummy houses behind and took the homeward track across the flowery grasslands among pink mallows and great purple knapweed blooms. There are hidden hazards for the unwary in this timeless paradise, though. One of us stepped onto an innocuous-looking mud patch, went in up to the hips, and had to be hauled squelchingly out. It wasn\u2019t me, that\u2019s all I have to say on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Start: Rose &#038; Crown PH, Tilshead, Wilts SP3 4RZ (OS ref SU 033480)<\/p>\n<p>Getting there: Bus service 2, Devizes-Salisbury. Road \u2013 Tilshead is on A360 between West Lavington and Shrewton.<\/p>\n<p>Walk (7 miles, easy, OS Explorer 130): From Rose &#038; Crown, left along A360. In 150m, right beside Ash Tree House gateway. Follow this lane (\u2018Restricted Byway\u2019) for 500m to A360 (030479). Left; in 100m, on right bend, ahead up minor road (\u2018Chitterne\u2019). At top of hill, left (024476, \u2018No access for civilian vehicles\u2019). Pass water tower on right; in 50m, fork right along main track. Into dip; ahead uphill to go through trees. In 100m, right (026469) with beech belt, then Long Barrow on right. In \u2154 mile, left (017465) on gravel road. Into dip; at top of rise beyond, right (019456, \u2018Byway\u2019) through trees. At 3-way fork just beyond, take right-hand track, passing mock village on your left.<\/p>\n<p>In \u00bd mile cross gravel road (012455); in 150m, left up dirt road. In \u00bd mile at 6-finger post (013448) take 2nd track on left (\u2018Permissive Byway\u2019), passing to right of mock village. In \u00bd mile, at crossroads with Byway signs pointing behind and ahead (021452), left between hedges. In 200m at \u2018village gates\u2019, right (020455, \u2018Byway\u2019). In 300m, ten metres before T-junction, left (023455, green \u2018Byway\u2019 sign\/GB) up rutted, grassy track.<\/p>\n<p>In \u00bd mile pass trig pillar on right, then cross gravel road (028462, GB). On along grassy track, with Westdown Camp ahead. In \u00bc mile join gravel road (031467, GB) and continue past White Barrow (033469). In another \u00bc mile, just short of A360, left (035471, \u2018Imber Range Path\u2019) on grassy track. In 700m, right (\u2018Restricted Byway\u2019) to A360; left to Rose &#038; Crown.<\/p>\n<p>Lunch: Rose &#038; Crown, Tilshead (01980-621062, <a href=\"http:\/\/roseandcrowntilshead.com\">roseandcrowntilshead.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Accommodation: Rollestone Manor, Shrewton SP3 4HF (01980-620216, <a href=\"http:\/\/rollestonemanor.com\">rollestonemanor.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Info: Salisbury TIC (01793-530328 or 466454)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/visitengland.com\">www.visitengland.com<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/satmap.com\">satmap.com<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/ramblers.org.uk\">ramblers.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Royal Geographical Society has just launched its \u2018Discovering Britain\u2019 project (discoveringbritain.org), exploring dozens of landscapes through walks great and small.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}